


Six Words

by magicalpaganini (heartsflush)



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Cheating, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I Made Myself Cry, can't believe that's a tag tbh, sorry for the multiple sad fics in the span of two days lmao
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-20
Updated: 2018-07-20
Packaged: 2019-06-13 08:22:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15360246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heartsflush/pseuds/magicalpaganini
Summary: Six words was all it took.





	Six Words

**Author's Note:**

> hey!!!!! guess who's sad again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> i'm sorry at least this one has a happy ending

He felt like his whole world had come crashing down.

“No one could ever love you.”

Six words, and he was undone.

It was their anniversary; a day which, by all accounts, should have been special. Girard had planned endlessly for the perfect way to celebrate. He’d gotten flowers, he’d dressed up, and he’d even gotten Alexis to reserve them a carriage ride through the city.

But when he arrived at Grazia’s door, it was open, and inside, she was with someone else.

And she didn’t care.

She never had.

She spent a year, a  _ whole year, _ toying with him, and as soon as she found someone better, she dropped him.

It was so unexpected, he didn't know how to react. So he didn’t. At least, not right away.

All he could bring himself to do was ask, “Why?”

“No one could ever love you.”

With those six words, the flowers slipped from his fingers, and he walked away.

Now, sitting on his bed, still dressed in his nice clothes, Girard was beginning to think she was right.

Because he had loved her. Genuinely, truly, almost  _ painfully _ at times. And if that wasn’t enough for her, would it be enough for anyone?

He was torn from his thoughts with a sound at his window. He looked up, but didn’t see anything. He was about to look back down at his feet when he saw a stone hit the window.

Girard sighed, then stood up and opened the window. Below, Alexis was standing there, a pile of rocks in their hands. “Hey,” they shouted. “Can I come up?”

“You could’ve used the front door,” Girard replied. “Mama would’ve let you in.”

“Yeah, but this is more fun.” Alexis began to scale the side of his house, their long braid fluttering in the wind behind them. When they reached the window, they swung their legs over the sill, then shut it behind them. 

Girard had sat down on his bed again. “What do you want?”

“What do you mean, what do I want?” Alexis answered, moving to sit with him. “My best friend’s depressed and shutting himself up in his room. Is that not cause enough for me to be here?”

He refused to meet their eyes, instead putting a hand on his chin and looking at his duvet. “Well, I’m...fine. So--”

“Clearly, you’re not, Girard,” Alexis interrupted. They placed a hand on his shoulder, causing him to look at them. “You mean the world to me, okay? I want to help you.”

Girard furrowed his eyebrows. “You don’t even know what happened.”

“I don’t have to,” Alexis replied. “Sometimes, all you need is for someone to be there.” They gave his shoulder a light squeeze. “You’ve been that someone for me countless times. I want to be that someone for you.”

Girard’s breath caught in his throat for a moment. Then everything came rushing out.

Alexis pulled him into a tight embrace as he cried harder than he’d ever cried in front of them. He couldn’t form any coherent words, and every time he tried, tears would fall into his open mouth and he’d close it again. Alexis smoothed out his hair and whispered calming words to him as he let his emotions run their course.

Eventually, his tears slowed, and he took deep breaths to try and calm himself down. Alexis leaned back awkwardly to try and reach the tissues on the nightshade without letting go of him. Girard let go, wiping his eye with his sleeve. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” Alexis asked, handing him the box of tissues.

“For making you see this.” Girard took the tissues, looking at his feet again. “It’s--I shouldn’t be making you worry about me.”

Alexis put a hand on his leg. “Girard, that’s what best friends do: worry about each other.”

“That’s not it,” Girard said, putting his hand over theirs. “I don’t...want you to think I’m weak. If you think I’m weak, you’ll abandon me.”

“Girard,” Alexis began. “First of all, I’m never going to leave you. Nothing you say or do will make me leave.” 

He looked into their eyes as they continued. “Second, showing weakness isn’t a bad thing. Neither is letting yourself be affected by your emotions. If you keep your feelings inside, they’ll fester and end up smothering you; letting out your sadness lets you breathe.”

Girard exhaled, and Alexis placed their hand over his, squeezing it gently. “I should tell you what happened,” he said softly, looking at their hands.

“Only if you want to,” Alexis replied.

“I do.” Girard straightened up, then exhaled again. “Grazia…” 

He struggled to get the words out, a lump threatening to form in his throat again.

“...she cheated on me.”

He felt Alexis’s hands tense, and he bit his lip. “She said that no one could ever love me.”

“She’s wrong,” Alexis said immediately.

“But what if she isn’t, Alexis?” Girard spoke without thinking. “What if I end up alone? What if you do leave me someday? What if--”

“Girard.” 

Their voice was soft, but firm, and it stopped Girard in his tracks. He looked at them, confused. “What?”

“This is a promise that I’m going to make to you,” they answered. “No matter where I go, or what I do, you will always,  _ always _ be the most important person to me.”

Girard felt another tear slide down his cheek. “But what if you meet someone better than me?”

Alexis smiled, a soft, warm sight in his eyes. “Even if I do, they could never make up for all of the time we’ve spent together.”

They inched closer, moving their hand to his shoulder. “Plus, I don’t think that’s possible.”

“I think it definitely is.”

“Then I dare the world to prove me wrong.”

Girard blinked in surprise, his mouth hanging open a bit. They were smiling at him still, their face uncharacteristically soft. He blinked again, then pulled them into another hug. “It already has.”

Alexis laughed gently. “Oh yeah? Then who is this person who’s somehow better than you?”

Girard pulled away and smiled at them; it felt good. “You.”

Alexis rolled their eyes. “That’s not true, and you know it.”

“It is,” Girard protested. “I don’t deserve you, Alexis.”

“You do in fact deserve me, Girard Mercier,” Alexis replied. “As a matter of fact, you deserve better than me. You deserve all of the love the world has to give.”

Girard smiled. “We’re going to argue about this forever, aren’t we.”

“Yep.”

He laughed, pulling them into a hug again. 

“Of all the arguments to have, I think this is a pretty good one.”

They grinned at him, and then spoke. Six words were all it took to make him feel whole again.

“You’re gonna be okay. I promise.”

When they said it that way, he believed them.


End file.
